In a court hearing late Tuesday, investigators said the Office of Investigators “intends to make a final decision on who is responsible for those misrepresentations and deficiencies,” and that “the OAG needs the evidence and evidence requested here to determine which Trump organization’s staff and subsidiaries – and other companies and individuals -“. He may have helped the Trump organization and Mr. Trump, or he may have had the appropriate knowledge of the false statements and omissions in the issue. “
“Witnesses close to the top of the Trump organization have asserted their Fifth Amendment rights against self-immolation. Some have misrepresented or insisted on following the advice of more senior staff,” they write.
“But Mr. Trump’s genuine knowledge – and intent to do so – is essential for many of the false statements and shortcomings made by him or her to resolve the OAG’s investigation in a fair and just manner,” the filing said. “Similarly, Donald Trump, Jr. and Ivanka Trump acted as Mr. Trump’s agents, acting in their own way, and overseeing the transactions on the issue here; their testimony is essential to the proper resolution of the OAG’s investigation.”
CNN has approached the Trump organization and Trump’s representatives for comment.
Ivanka Trump Lender was a key liaison with Deutsche Bank, while Donald Trump Jr. is involved in a number of assets, including 40 Wall Street, and has certified the accuracy of financial statements since 2017, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Investigators say about a dozen current and former Trump organization employees have testified in lengthy court cases, and that Trump has authorized the preparation of his personal tax accounts.
“In light of the widespread and repetitive nature of misrepresentations and releases, ratings in the reports generally seem to have been elevated as part of a pattern that claims Mr. Trump’s net worth is higher than it appears,” investigators wrote.
In particular, the New York Attorney General’s Office stated that there is zero in a number of specific misrepresentations:
- The size of Trump’s Trump Tower penthouse;
- Assets that are misclassified by Trump or outside the control of the Trump system are “money”, thereby increasing his cash flow;
- Trump or his allies have misrepresented the process by which estimates were achieved, including deviations from generally accepted accounting principles in ways that the reports do not disclose;
- Failure to use basic valuation techniques such as deducting future revenues and expenses to their current value or selecting only those properties as “comparable” to calculate estimates from general sales data;
- Misrepresented the involvement of “outside experts” in achieving ratings; And
- Failed to advise that specific valuations were elevated by undisclosed amounts for brand value.
One argument in James’ office was that Trump did not comply with the saponies for the records. For example, they allege that even though Trump did not use email, he knew from witnesses that Trump had copies of documents and used sticky notes to communicate with employees. They said the file related to Trump’s records was never sought by the cabinet to comply with a sapona.
“This file was never searched because the Trump administration determined that Mr. Trump was not involved in preparing his own financial statements,” they wrote.
James’ office said the misleading statements were shared with creditors, and insurers accused Donald J. Trump of “all the benefits of misleading estimates.” The office also said it had evidence that Trump may have received more than $ 5 million in federal tax breaks from miscalculations from tax breaks taken at Seven Springs in New York and the Trump National Golf Course in Los Angeles. Angels.
James’s office has been conducting a civil investigation into the accuracy of the Trump organization and its financial statements since 2019, which Trump has called a political witch hunt.
A confession in a civil case, they wrote, was “similar to the effective placement by the DANY, but does not provide constitutional protection to every witness through the Grand Jury process.”
Witnesses summoned before the New York State Grand Jury are exempt from transaction for their testimony and cannot be prosecuted unless they lie under oath. James, they argue, seeks to circumvent those rights by seeking evidence in a civil case, which can then be used by criminal prosecutors. If they do not testify, an arbitral tribunal in a civil case may conduct it against the defendants or draw an adverse presumption.
In filing Tuesday, James’ attorneys rejected the argument, arguing that Trump could secure the Fifth Amendment’s defense against self – indulgence.
“Every witness may exercise the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-immolation. It is not uncommon for a witness to exercise that right in a civil trial (or any other civil or administrative proceedings) or to deny a constitutional right,” the prosecutor wrote. .